Finding New Love
by VentedHalo
Summary: Tessa is heartbroken when Sousuke rejects her feelings for him However can the new AS pilot put pieces back together? More coming soon hoping to edit every week if possible. Rated T for language. Enjoy please Read and Review.
1. Heartbroken

This my first FanFic so I ask can you please not flame me if something is wrong or you don't think a character's personality is correct (etc.) Instead can you offer suggestions on how I could fix the problem so I can or your thoughts on how to improve the story altogether.

I decided write this because I have a lot of spare time but not a lot to do with it, after finding FanFiction and reading stories, I decided to write one of my own. I chose Full Metal Panic because I recently saw the anime series and saw Tessa's feeling towards Sousuke. So I wondered "What if she confessed them to Sousuke? And then he rejected her because he has his own feelings towards Kaname." of course she'd be devastated and be heartbroken. But what if she finds someone who helps her put the pieces back together. That is what this story is all about.

Hope you enjoy, please support as best you can, thanks!

VentedHalo

Finding New Love

_Chapter 1. Heartbroken _

The Corridors of the usually busy submarine base were unusually quite that afternoon on a normal day there would be people walking back and forth down the corridors, trolleys of equipment being pushed towards their destination and groups of soldiers holding private conversations and having the occasional smoke. But not today. Because today the entire base were celebrating their latest victory over the terrorist group Amalgam, as they had recently destroyed a major scientific research lab holding data on the Whispered and Black Technology but the best of it was the site was taken, retrieved of all he data and research and successfully destroyed with all most no casualty's. Most if not all the personnel would be in the bar having drinks, smokes and laughing and joking at each other it was a kind of peace that was rare to find during these times but when the opportunity arose almost everyone seized the chance to relax from fighting and working if only for a little while... Well almost everyone.

Everyone except Captain Teletha 'Tessa' Testarossa who didn't want to join in the festivities that day have fun and talk with everyone who was under her command. Usually she wouldn't hesitate at the chance as even a Captain had to take it easy once in a while however not today, for instead of been the usually cheery person she is who would make others cheerful by just smiling at them she was the complete opposite. If someone were to walk past her quarters at that time they would here small sobs coming from them. For Teletha Tesstarosa was heartbroken.

The Mithril Captain was lying down on one of the two couches in her room curled up into a tight ball crying softly to herself. Her eyes were red off crying and black tear stains ran down her soft cheeks and falling down to the fabric of the couch.

"I can't believe he said that to me." she whispered causing more tears to fall down her face.

"After all we've been through and after I summoned all my courage to confess my feelings to him... he still refused me." her words caught in her throat causing her to sob harder as she buried her head into the couch.

"Why Mr Sagara" she said "Why."

She cried for a little while longer before she slowly raised her head drying her eyes which were now swollen and red as well as her cheeks stained with tears and mascara. Tessa dragged herself from the couch and went into her bathroom to wash her face. As she walked in she couldn't help looking in the mirror which nearly brought more tears from seeing the state that see was in, but she looked away quickly and walked to the sink, turned the tap on and washed her face. After washing her tears away and make up she started put some more on putting on to try and hide the tear stain which still marked her face. Finishing putting on some blush, which hid the stains quite well she left the bathroom and headed for the door, taking her keys from the table and walked out gently closing the door behind her and locked it, then set of on a walk round the base the try and clear her head.

As she walked away she whispered to herself "Why?."


	2. Rejected

_Chapter 2. Rejected _

Walking through the empty hallways of the base Tessa didn't look up from her feet once and ignored the personnel who greeted her, when she passed they looked at one another with looks that clearly said "What's wrong with The Captain today." They shrugged it off and continued about their business.

Tessa was too engrossed in her thoughts to talk or even greet the people who walked past her which was very unlike her but right now she couldn't give a damn.

"I told him face to face how I felt about him, how much I loved him... and yet he said he didn't share the same feelings for me and walked away." she thought. The scenario was still fresh in her mind and it brought tears to her eyes just thinking about it.

_**/Flashback/ **_

_Tessa walked into the bar on the base and it was packed full of personnel, it didn't surprise her as it was the first time in while they had all been together. She looked through the groups of people who were drinking, laughing and smoking together. Then she spotted her target. He was carrying a tray with 7 glasses towards the SRT's table she couldn't miss him: he was about 6" tall with a well built body and broad shoulders. He had a mop of long dark brown hair which cast a shadow over his steel grey eyes. _

_Tessa immediately started picking her way through the crowd towards him. Eventually she reached the table, there were eight seats surrounding the table. Seven were filled. The seat belonged to Sergeant Daniel Heaton, call sign Urzu 4 the SRT's explosives expert; he was killed on the last mission; to destroy a terrorist held factory that was creating nuclear warheads, as they were planting the charges after collecting the warheads, he was shot several times by a Savage AS which had been hiding. His AS was badly damaged and disabled so it was unable to move, he then ordered the team to leave the facility despite Melissa's pleas for him to get out of the cockpit but he too was injured badly and would be dead soon, he then activated the timers which gave the team little choice but to leave Daniel and evacuate the facility. _

_The remaining SRT members were present however: Sergeant Kurz Weber, the team sniper, Sergeant Major Melissa Mao, the team leader and Sergeant Sousuke Sagara, the specialist. The others had different expertise in things like Reconnaissance, Assaulting, and Close quarters combat. It was just then that Kurtz noticed her for the first time._

"_Hey Tessa, come to join the party?" he said grinning stupidly._

"_No unfortunately too much work to finish" she replied with a small smile, a hint of sadness was in her voice "But I do need to have a word with Mr Sagara." _

_They all turned to look at the young sergeant who quickly got to his feet and stood at attention._

"_Of course Captain what do you need to talk about." he asked _

_she stifled a laugh at his behaviour "Always the soldier Sousuke."_

"_Um I kinda need to talk to you in private, follow me outside please." she said then turned and started walking away._

_Without saying another word he marched close behind her as she walked through the crowd towards the door, upon reaching it he opened it for her, she thanked him and passed into the corridor he swiftly followed. _

_After he shut the door behind him she turned to him and stared at his face._

"_Mr Sagara I … uh... need to..." she stuttered a small pink blush appeared on her cheeks, thinking how to tell him._

"_Need to what Captain?" he asked _

_Tessa inhaled a large breath then slowly let it out_

"_Mr Sagara, I need to confess something to you" _

"_Confess what Madam Captain?" Sousuke concern etching his face._

"_Mr Sagara ... I've fallen in love with you" Tessa then turned her gaze to her feet, waiting for his reaction._

_She stared at her feet for what seemed like hours before Sousuke shakily let out a breath he had been holding._

"_Captain" he spoke slowly._

_Tessa looked up into his eyes which stared down at her, his face was emotionless._

"_Yes, Mr Sagara" her voice wavered slightly, she felt hope fill up inside her._

"_Captain, I appreciate your feelings for me but I'm afraid I just don't feel the same about you."_

_Tessa felt the world crashing down around her, her hope diminished instantly and she felt a huge pain in her chest_

"_I see" was all she managed without her voice breaking, tears started in her eyes but she made no attempt to wipe them away. _

"_I'm sorry" was all Sousuke could think to say, he then turned to the door and re-entered _

_the bar. _

_**/End Flashback/**_


	3. Replacement

_Chapter 3. Replacement_

The platinum haired girl was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't notice the man walking down the corridor in her direction until she walked straight into his chest causing her to lose her footing. As she fell towards the floor she felt an iron like grip on her arm halting her descent. Tessa looked up at the person who she had hit and turned out to be Commander Kalinin.

"I'm sorry Mr Kalinin, I wasn't looking where I was going." she apologised while dusting her self off.

"Its fine Captain, I noticed you were in deep thought do you wish to talk about it?" The old Commander asked kindly.

"No, its kinda personal you see Mr Kalinin" she replied.

Kalinin could easily see the sad look in her eyes and knew something was wrong but decided not to press the matter.

"As you wish Captain, but I was actually coming to see you about replacing Sergeant Heaton." Kalinin didn't show any emotion as he spoke those words; he'd gone through this routine many times in the past, he'd have a lot of practice hiding his feelings.

"Oh, of course" she said, remembering him telling her earlier today.

"I have the list of candidates on your desk Captain, I was hoping to assist you in picking a replacement."

"Well thank you for the offer Mr Kalinin, I accept" she smiled at him, she noticed the small twitch at the corner of his mouth; it was the closest he ever came to a smile, not that he didn't smile, it just wasn't often.

They walked through the corridors together until they came to Tessa's secretary's office, the young woman behind the desk greeted them both with a smile.

"Good afternoon Captain, Commander" she greeted warmly. Tessa returned her smile with her own,the Commander just nodded.

"Good Afternoon Emily, how are you?"

"Just fine Captain thank you."

"That's great, could you open the office please?"

"Of course Captain."

The secretary typed on her computer for a few seconds before the office door slid silently open.

"Thank you Emily" Tessa said giving her a smile before walking into her office followed by the Commander.

Tessa sighed as she entered and looked around her office. It was the most private place she could go besides her quarters, on her right was a couple of couches which were facing a view screen. On her left was her varnished wooden desk stacked with paperwork with a computer world map behind it. The office was brightly coloured and decorated with various plants and paintings to lighten up the atmosphere.

She walked behind her desk and slumped into her soft leather chair and sighed heavily pinching the bridge of her nose with her thumb and index finger before turning to Kalinin.

"So where is the list of candidates?" she asked looking around her desk.

"Right here Captain" Kalinin replied taking a brown folder from her desk and handing it to her.

Tessa opened it revealing service records of all the selected candidates, there were nine in total each with a picture of the AS pilot.

"OK lets get started" Tessa said before looking at the record and reading the first name. "Corporal Ryan Anderson."

"He's stationed in Afghanistan Madam Captain, he's a seasoned veteran and one of the best explosives experts Mithril has to offer, he's also the most highly recommended on the list." Kalinin paused for a moment before continuing.

"He's on the list because his entire squad was caught in a friendly air strike, he was the only survivor."

"I see" Tessa whispered wondering how the soldier felt that his squad mates, his friends die from friendly fire, she looked at the next record, when she read the name she raised an eyebrow at it. "Sergeant Brett... Sargeant."

Kalinin didn't answer to her comment, but read the soldiers record.

"Captain, his record is a decent one despite several small issues and a court martial, he's a close combat expert and has modified his AS with some gear associated to Close Quarters Combat and has fought in many battles earning him several medals.

"What was the case in the court martial?" Tessa asked, a worried look on her face.

"A fellow soldier decided to make fun of the Sergeant's name which led to the soldier in question ending up in the infirmary."

Tessa just sat staring at the Commander and blinked.

"_Someone gets pissed off easily." _she thought.

Kalinin seemed to read her mind and just nodded "Lets move on to the next candidate Captain" he said. Tessa just nodded and went to the next candidate.


	4. An Old Friend

_Chapter 4. An Old Friend and New Hope_

They went through each record until they came to the last one. Tessa glanced at the clock on her desk.

"_Its taken me less than ten minutes to go through eight service records, and none of them except the first have caught my attention_."

She then turned to the last service record. It was a young Special Forces AS pilot. She looked at the name then at the picture: The young man in the picture was about her age and was about 6,1" tall with broad shoulders. He had short dark brown hair and scorched brown eyes, to her they were so dark it seemed his eyes were just large black pupils, he had a firm jaw which had a long scar which stretched from his jaw to just behind his right ear. Tessa also noticed another scar just above his left eyebrow because no hair grew for maybe an inch in a line, clearly from a bullet scraping his head. His record was what surprised her the most.

"_He has more confirmed kills then any Mithril operative in Afghanistan, and has taken missions regarded as a "Suicide Mission" and completed them. He's also been awarded most if not all the medals in Mithril. He's a damn good soldier. I think I've found my replacement. _Tessa found herself looking at the young man's glaring eyes and her thoughts trailed to them._ "He looks quite handsome." _she thought staring at his deep brown pools "_There's something about his eyes that fascinate me."_ She then shook her head at the thought. "_Agh! What am I thinking! Focus!"_

But she found it difficult, it took a lot of her will power to not look back at the young man's face. To stop her thoughts she read his name out loud, his rank surprised her though. "Captain Alex S Lee?"

She felt intrigued by his military status _"How can an AS pilot be that high in the military."_

"Captain did you say Captain Lee?" Kalinin's question interrupted her thoughts, she looked from the service record to the Commander.

"Yes you heard me correctly Mr Kalinin." she said, she had a feeling in her gut that the Commander and the young AS pilot were connected somehow.

"So he's alive, and he joined after all" he muttered under his breath, but Tessa still heard him.

"What do you mean Mr Kalinin?" she asked curiously, the expression on his face was a look of recognition and surprise.

"You see Captain, Captain Lee and I have crossed paths before" he explained

"When did you meet?" Tessa asked curiously.

"It was about two years ago, I was in Afghanistan fighting Al-Qaeda , when a suicide bomber rushed the convoy we were in, destroying two vehicles and six soldiers, they then hit us with RPG s destroying two more vehicles including mine but I was thrown clear, the rest of the men were killed in the fighting while I was unconscious, when I woke there were several terrorists arguing about what to do with me, I thought I was surely done for. But at that moment a grenade exploded near by killing several terrorists, they turned to where the grenade had come from only to be cut down by high velocity rounds from a sniper rifle, which was soon followed with automatic fire killing the remaining men. I thought it was a friendly patrol who had spotted the smoke and came to investigate, but it turned out it was a 14 year old boy carrying a bolt action sniper and a M16. He didn't speak but helped me to my feet and handed me a rifle and the rest of my kit, he then turned and gestured to me to follow him so I did. After a few hours walking we reached a small rock slide from the mountains we went up the rock slide which led us to a cave where my silent rescuer put his things on the ground and sat down, he gestured me to do the same so I did, he then went further into the cave and returned with some dried wood and a couple of rocks. Soon he had fire going and brought out some food as well, he was cooking it when I turned and asked him what his name was, he didn't answer at first and I thought I wasn't going to get an answer but I did.

He said his name was Alex and he was here because of terrorists in his home city where they killed his family. He vowed revenge and although he somehow managed to kill his family's murderers he wasn't satisfied. He then secretly boarded a military plane bound for Afghanistan to bring the fight to the terrorists themselves. Once he landed he managed to slip away from the base while grabbing guns and ammunition. He'd been there for a couple of months before that incident and proved to be an exceptional fighter especially with precision weapons. We spent the night in the cave and in the early morning he escorted me to a nearby Mithril base. I thanked him for his kindness he said I was welcome and as he was walking away I asked if he wanted to become a real soldier where age didn't matter but skill did, I asked him to join Mithril."

The aged man was deep in thought through out his story. Tessa had listened intently and was even more intrigued by this mysterious boy.

"Did he accept and join Mithril?" she asked.

"Not at first no, but did say he would consider it he then walked away saying that we would meet again." Kalinin replied before looking at the record in front of him.

"And now it seems he did join after all and as done well for himself but I wonder, is he the same as he was two years ago." A look of fear was in the Commanders eyes. Tessa was amazed at this, Kalinin seemed the type of man that was scared of nothing but right now he was the same man scared of a now sixteen year old boy.

"Is there a reason this would be a bad thing?" she said now slightly scared herself.

"Well when I met him the first time and looked him in the eyes I was afraid." The Commander closed his eyes and shuddered slightly from the memory.

"He had the eyes of someone who had gone through a lot of pain and suffering, they were cold and filled with hate and anger." Kalinin opened his eyes again and looked Tessa in the eye.

"When he first helped me, there was one terrorist who was still alive. Alex walked over to him and stood staring down at him. The man clearly recognised him and began begging for him to be spared but Alex spat at him and grabbed him by the throat holding him up. He then said:

"Do you really think I will spare the life of someone as pathetic as you."

"His voice was cold and full of venom he then dropped the man and dragged him to a nearby rock, placing his head on the rock Alex then lifted his foot, the man started crying begging again to be spared. Alex would do no such thing. He then raised his foot and brought it down on the man's face with such force he crushed the man's face, broke his neck, severed the spinal cord and eventually took the man's head off completely."

Tessa was so horrified at something so barbaric and gruesome she felt like throwing up.

"_How can someone be that barbaric to someone, even to a terrorist!"_

So many thoughts went through her head that she didn't know where she was or what she was doing.

"_He's a good soldier, one I'd really like to have but what if he gets into a fight with one of the crew. How can I guarantee he won't repeat the same thing or even turn on Mithril itself."_

Kalinin could see his superior officer was in mental conflict over what to do, no one knew what the young man was capable of except maybe himself, however Kalinin believed he just seen a fraction of what the boy could do. Deciding to help Tessa with her thoughts he said.

"Captain, I can see your struggling over what to do at the moment, so please allow me speak my thoughts." Tessa jumped from his sudden speech, ripping her from her thoughts.

"Go ahead Mr Kalinin."

"Well Captain, I could see you were horrified over what he did to that man, but I can assure you he did it out of revenge, he would never harm anyone unless it was necessary, His record is outstanding, it states he made it to the rank of Captain in a little over a year, he has no bad reports and has been described as a 1st class soldier and an honourable person."

Tessa took this information in and gathered her thoughts. "_Kalinin is right, Mithril wouldn't have hired him if he truly was a person that did that to everyone on that situation, and Kalinin has never been wrong before so why begin to doubt him now."_

"Mr Kalinin what do you think I should do?" she asked finally_, _she would need his opinion on this to make her decision.

"Well Captain, if I were in your position I would have chosen him for our replacement, usually someone at the rank of Captain would be in a desk job but not him, because he wants to fight and be with his squad mates on the frontline, not seated in a comfy office behind a desk making decisions and doing paper work every day."

Tessa allowed her doubt to subside, Kalinin's description of Lee's reasons for remaining an AS pilot at the rank of Captain. She needed someone who would do anything to get the job done (within reason of course) and always stick by his team mates no matter what.

She took a pen from her desk and filled in the Reassignment papers finishing it with her thin spider like signature before handing it to Kalinin.

"Mr Kalinin send these papers to Captain Lee's Commanding Officer as soon as possible please."

"Yes Ma'am" he replied before saluting and walking out of the office.

"I hope I've made the right choice" Tessa said to herself thinking about the young soldier and the gruesome story Kalinin had told her. She shook her head at her negativity. "Of course you made the right choice, he's a fine soldier and I was lucky finding him."

"_Or did you choose him for that and another reason" _a voice inside her head whispered.

"No, I chose him for the right reasons, not because I thought he was good looking." she said aloud rising from her chair. _Although he was rather handsome and his eyes, his eyes were so...entrancing." _She thought, her mind was focused on the Captain's face and dark brown eyes.

She smiled slightly at the thought before snapping out of her trance and turned her attention to the enormous piles of paperwork on her desk, letting out a small groan she fell back into her chair and started working, the thought returned to her mind and soon started daydreaming, leaning her chin in her hand she sighed softly gazing into space. Suddenly the phone rang causing her to jump and snap out of her daydreams. Quickly she picked up the receiver and put it to her ear.

"Hello, Captain Testarossa speaking."

"Ah Captain, I've just finished sending the papers to Captain Lee, he'll be arriving in a couple of days."

"Excellent work Mr Kalinin, Thank you."

"My pleasure, Ma'am." Tessa hung up and put the receiver back, smiling to herself.

"I'll see you in couple of days Mr Lee." she said before returning to her work humming cheerfully.


	5. Arrival

_Chapter 5. Arrival _

The young man cried out in his sleep, tossing and turning as if trying to rid something from his mind. He cried out again, this time louder and more painful. His cries softened to a whimper and began speaking in a low pain filled voice.

"No, no please no, this cant be happening, THIS CANT BE REAL!" He screamed tossing his body violently to the right jerking him out of his bunk and landing hard with a growl pain on to the cold, steel floor. Slowly he pushed himself up onto his elbows breathing heavily before pushing himself unsteadily to his feet. Swaying slightly he shuffled to the bunk and slumped down on it. Running a hand through his wet hair he sighed rising to his feet once again, his dog-tags bouncing of his sweat covered chest.

"Damn nightmares" he muttered.

He reached under his bunk and started feeling around, finally finding what he was searching for he pulled it out and dumped it on the the soaking sheets. It was a bag filled with his personal belongings, opening it he looked inside and pulled out a black leather bound book and set it carefully beside him on the bed. He reached in again in and brought out a photo frame, turning it around in his hands he started staring at it, seeming to forget his surroundings.

"I'm sorry" he whispered, tears starting in his eyes "God I am so sorry."

The young military man stared at the photo for a bit longer before returning it to his bag along with the book, he wiped his eyes and got up. He walked to the intercom on the far wall and keyed it.

"Pilot, how long before we reach Meridia Island?" he demanded putting on his normal gruff voice.

"About 15 minutes Captain Lee, better get your things together we'll be landing soon."

Lee didn't bother responding to the pilot he just killed the connection and pulled out a pair of combats and a Khaki T-Shirt from the bag, he quickly pulled them on and began tying the laces on the black combat boots. He'd received orders from his C.O. That he was been reassigned to Mithril's West Pacific Fleet two days prior to now. He had of course demanded to know why he'd been transferred but the CO just said "All will be explained when you arrive there."

Lee had then done some of his own research about where he was going and who he was serving under. He'd been surprised when he found out he'd been transferred to the Tuatha de Danann, under command of the young Captain Testarossa. He admired her for several things, One being she was as strong and good a leader as any other Mithril male General who was many years older than her, Two she made sure everyone would make it back to base alive and she mourned every loss of life greatly if she failed, placing the blame on herself. And thirdly and most importantly, she was respected by everyone because of the amount of effort she put in to make sure everyone was brought back safe and how much she cared for those serving under her. Lee found that hard to find in modern Commanders, most would except any loss and "Acceptable losses" and showed little respect to those under their command.

That's why he had the feeling he was going to get along just fine with his new Commanding Officer. He had also heard that she was quite an attractive young woman and "How much people would give to have a snapshot of her." Lee found it disgusting how they talked about her, he admitted she was a beautiful girl and very attractive, but found disgusting how they referred to her as "A gorgeous babe" and "Sexy lookin" and several comments on her body which he wouldn't repeat.

Mithril's regulations kept him from tearing their tongues out so he gritted his teeth and walked away, he believed people like Captain Testarossa deserved the utmost respect and these self-satisfying assholes did nothing of the sort, it made him sick.

Lee was interrupted from his thoughts by the intercom buzzing, growling he stalked over and keyed it.

"What is it?" he growled

"Sir, Meridia is asking for confirmation of your identity" the pilot replied, the fear in his voice was clear as daylight, no one wanted to piss him off because it would be the last thing you'd ever do.

"Why?" Lee asked warily.

"Its regulation Sir, it has to be done or they won't let us land."

Lee frowned at this bit of information.

"I haven't heard of this regulation."

"Its been recently put into effect Sir, from the hijacking incident a few months ago."

Suddenly it all came to him, the news of the Tuatha de Danann's hijacking was broadcast all over Mithril and had shocked everyone, Captain Testarossa had said that new security regulations were being put into effect ASAP, this must be one of those regulations. Lee grinned to himself, The Captain was taking no chances and he admired her for that too.

"All right, I'll be there in a minute" he said before killing the connection, quickly grabbing his belongings and shoving them in the bag he exited the room and started jogging to the cockpit. Once there he slid the door open and entered, the Co-pilot handed him a headset which he hastily put on.

"This Captain Alex S Lee, call-sign Urzu 4, service number 445892147, requesting permission to land over."

"Copy that Urzu 4, you are now clear for landing opening the hanger doors now."

"Roger Meridia, Urzu 4 out."

Lee took of the headset and handed it back to the Co-pilot then lifted his head to look out of the cockpit at the island before him. He felt the plane begin its decent towards the now open hanger in the centre of the island, he turned around and sat in the communications seat and fastened his seat belt, he felt the plane decelerate rapidly as it approached the hanger, he jumped in his seat as it touched down and began blinking from the lack of light from the bright outside to the dim hanger of Meridia Island. When the plane came to a stop he unfastened himself and grabbed his bag walking out of the cockpit towards the exit door, he reached it and walked down the steps to the hanger floor, looking around he saw all kinds of jets, helicopters and armament. While he was looking around he didn't notice the female officer walk up to him.

"Ahem."

Lee turned and saw the officer who smiled at him, he gave her a small one in return.

"Apologies for not noticing you sooner, can I help you with something?"

"I just wanted to ask you if you wanted your bag to be taken to your room while you have the tour around the base... Sir" she said holding out a clipboard and pen for him to sign noticing his rank.

"Yes, thank you" Lee replied signing the clipboard and handing it back to her. She gestured to a young Corporal to take his bag, he surrendered it to him saying "Be careful, if anything gets broken in there I'll break something much worse" he said coldly. The Corporal paled slightly before taking the bag, making sure he was careful with it. As the female officer walked away he called to her again.

"Who is giving me the tour around the base may I ask?"

She turned around and replied " I believe Captain Testarossa wanted to give you the tour personally" she called back before walking away. Lee headed towards the nearest door leading out from the hanger, opening it revealed a stairwell going up maybe 2 levels, he jogged up the first flight and at the top was a long corridor with rooms branching of it. He noticed a sign at the top of the stairs it was a map that showed every room and staircase on the level he was on.

"OK this corridor leads to no where at all and the rooms are all labelled storage A-H, clearly its a storage level so lets try the next one."

Jogging up the second flight this time revealing a corridor and corner not far from the stairs he checked the map of this level also.

"This leads to the barracks and the mess hall with a set of stairs at the end of the corridor, still not what I'm looking for."

He eventually had to backtrack, running down the corridors taking turns and going up stairs then jumping back down them. Lee started to tire out from running everywhere so he leaned against the closest wall to regain his breath.

"Damn, its like a God Damn maze this base is, how the hell am I going to find Captain Testarossa's office" It hit him just then realising his mistake, he groaned loudly and banged his head against the wall cursing.

"You God Damn Idiot, I shoulda asked for directions from that bloody female engineer." he growled to himself cursing again "Ahh, SHIT!"

"Hey dude chill out, if you need to find Tessa's office I'll help ya" said a voice.

Lee whipped around to face the person who'd spoken, it turned out to be a tall man with long blond hair in his early twenty s. he was leaning on the wall crossing his arms staring at him with warm, calm blue eyes.

Lee pushed of the wall to look at the newcomer. He could see he was a Sergeant by looking at his stripes, and by looking at the smirk on his face he could tell the guy was a joker.

"Excuse me Sergeant but what do mean 'Tessa's office?' Who's Tessa?" he asked confused by the name, he was looking for Captain Testarossa not someone called Tessa.

"Oh, you must be new around here, names Kurtz Weber I'm the SRT's Sniper." he said holding out his hand. Lee shook it firmly before Kurtz continued.

"Your looking for Captain Testarossa aren't you."

"Yes, but why did you-"

"I was getting to that, you see 'Tessa' is her nickname to her close friends because of her surname you see?"

"Hmm" Lee said after he thought about it "Anyway I need to see her soon I have to see her by 0930 hours sharp, could you point me in the right direction?"

"Right, from here you need to head that way" Kurtz said pointing over his shoulder with his thumb. "And take your first right, continue down and take the third left, after that take the stairs up to the next level and go through the cafeteria to another corridor, then go down that corridor and take your second left and the secretary's office will be right in front of you, ask her and she'll let you in" he explained.

Lee listened intently, the last thing he needed was to get lost again!

"Oh, by the way what time did you say you needed to see Tessa?" Kurtz asked looking at his watch.

"0930 hours sharp" Lee replied, dreading what Kurtz was going to say.

"Jeez, you better sprint if you wanna make it, you got two minu-."

But Lee had shot off down the corridor swearing, leaving Kurtz standing in the corridor chuckling to himself. He then turned and walked back into the Mess Hall, he sat himself down at the table he shared with Mao and Sousuke who were looking at him with bewildered looks on their faces at his silent laughter.

"What's got you laughing" asked Mao inhaling from the cigarette in her hand.

"Oh, some new guy who was looking for Tessa's office" Kurtz replied, his laugh replaced with a humorous grin. "He's been looking around for nearly an hour, and when I found him he was pissed. So being the helpful person I am, I pointed him in the right direction but the best part was when I told him he had two minutes to get to her office. As soon as he heard that he went off faster than a bullet swearing his head off."

"Poor bastard" chuckled Mao "I hope he makes it in time or he'll get one of that old bastard Mardukas's sermons on the importance of punctuality." She looked at Kurtz "You know all about that don't you Kurtz?" she stated laughing at the groan from Kurtz.

"Yeah" he muttered "Miserable old Bastard."


	6. First Meeting

_Chapter Six: Embarrassing Meeting_

"He was supposed to be here 5 minutes ago"

Tessa sighed deeply wondering where the young man might be, his record stated he was always an time never late once. So where the hell was he? Tessa turned her attention back to the paperwork on her desk which she decided to do while waiting for Lee but found it difficult because she was extremely tired as she had worked into the early hours of the morning to finish the last of her paperwork, instead she ended up falling asleep at her desk until she was awoken by Commander Mardukas. She sighed again rubbing her eyes wishing she could go to her quarters and fall asleep but she was the Captain of the most advanced submarine in the world and it was her duty to be the best she could possibly be, however it took its toll on her.

Tessa reached for the cup of coffee on her desk, it was the only thing keeping her awake right now but it was empty. Tessa groaned and slammed her head off the desk.

"Today just isn't my day" she muttered miserably.

She got up and dragged her self to the door composing her self before leaving, she was greeted by her secretary.

"Good morning Madam Captain, how are you?"

"I fine Emily, Thank you" Tessa greeted her back giving her a tired smile "Listen, I'm going to the cafeteria to get some coffee, if anyone shows up and asks for me tell them to wait okay?"

"You don't have to get it yourself Captain, I could get it for you" Emily offered kindly.

"No its okay, I could use the exercise anyway" Tessa replied laughing softly

Emily gave a sympathetic smile, "If your sure Captain."

Tessa just nodded and smiled, she left her office and started walking down the hallway.

"I wonder where Captain Lee is?" she wondered.

As she neared a corner she heard heavy footsteps coming from around it, she sighed. She had told her crew COUNTLESS times NOT to run in the hallways as it had caused many accidents in the past. Tessa prepared herself to give the crew member a piece of her mind, when suddenly she was rammed by the person and fell to the floor with a small cry of pain.

The man (she assumed it was a man) hadn't hit her that hard but given her petite frame and clumsiness she could be knocked over easily.

Tessa groaned from her now throbbing head and tried to get up, but found she could hardly move, she suddenly realised that someone was lying on top of her. Tessa tried to push the person off her but to no avail, she then tried to wriggle her way out but because the man's weight (she could see now it was a man) kept her pinned to the deck.

"_Oh God, I hope no comes right now!" _she thought realising the predicament she was in. She tried again to push the guy off her. "Come on Dammit, Move!" she growled.

It was then she felt him stir and groan quietly, he slowly raised his head and shook it. Tessa was then able to turn her head so she could face him and at the same time he looked down at her. Tessa's eyes widened with horror and blushed several shades of red upon seeing who was lying on top of her, she found herself looking into the deep brown eyes of Captain Lee.

Lee started to regain his consciousness, he groaned softly his head hurt like he'd been hit with a rock, slowly he raised his head to look around. Everywhere was dim, he couldn't make out where he was but could tell he was in some sort of base. Suddenly it all came back to him, he'd been running through the corridors that Kurtz had told him to go through to reach Captain Testarossa's office, however he was late and had to sprint. The last thing he remembered was running around the corner to the office when he'd collided with someone. The force of the collision sent them both hurtling to the floor where he'd smacked his head and everything went black.

Lee then realised he was lying on top of someone who was trying to get out from under him, he looked down to see who it was, and then he froze.

Beneath him lay a young girl, maybe sixteen years old with long, Platinum Silver hair styled into a ponytail. She had the most beautiful grey eyes he'd ever seen and they were staring up at him twice their original size, her face was nicely rounded which was over shadowed slightly by her silver bangs. Her lips were a soft pink colour which showed well on her pale skin, The girl was blushing madly and her mouth hung open in disbelief. He'd recognised her instantly, he'd been shown a picture of her before he left. He was lying on top of Captain Testarossa.

"Uhh..." was the sound that came from her mouth and she blushed a even deeper shade of red. Lee quickly realised they were in a Very compromising position and found himself blushing, he rolled off her and sprang to his feet, snapping to attention.

"Uhh forgive me Ma'am, I wasn't aware that I'd ran into you but I was running to be at the meeting with you on time, I promise this will never happen again I swear." he said .

Tessa looked up at the now standing Lee who was standing at attention asking for her forgiveness for him barging into her. He was dressed in desert camo combats and a Khaki T-Shirt that fitted tightly around his well built body.

"_Wow, he looks even better than his picture."" she thought, _another blush appearing on her cheeks.

She realised he was looking down at her nervously having not gotten a reply. She frantically tried to think of something to say.

"Uhh...its fine...a-are you Captain L-lee?" she stuttered mentally cursing herself, _"Smooth Tessa, real smooth." _

Lee breathed a sigh of relief he bent down and held his hand out for her.

"Thank you err...Miss Testarossa, ...erm yes I am Captain Lee I arrived an hour ago but unfortunately I got lost around the base." He explained, smiling nervously.

"Its okay Mr Lee, I was exactly the same when I first came here" she said giggling softly.

Lee chuckled "Well it looks like someone's going to have to give me the tour" he stopped suddenly and laughed "Oh yeah, that's what I came to see you for!"

Tessa started laughing as well, they laughed for a while, staring at each other.

"_I knew Captain Testarossa was pretty, but seeing her now makes me at a loss for words" thought Lee, gazing down at her._

"_He seems completely different from how he was described by Kalinin, he seems so happy and good spirited, maybe he's changed since then" thought Tessa. _

Tessa then realised he was still holding his hand out to her, she reached for it and slid her small hand into his. Tessa was surprised about how gentle he was despite his rough hands. Lee then pulled her to her feet, however Tessa wasn't prepared for his sudden pull and tripped over her feet, she fell against his chest, he stood firm but had to wrap his arms around her to prevent her from falling again.

A blush immediately appeared on Tessa's face seeing where she was, she had thought she would have fallen to the floor again after she'd trippedbut instead found her self wrapped in Lee's powerful arms. Tessa felt this overwhelming sense of safety in his arms, she felt as though she wanted to stay there in his arms forever.

"Uhh Captain?"

His voice interrupted her train thoughts, she looked up into his face realising how close their faces were, her blush deepened. He raised an eyebrow at her and a deep chuckle escaped his lips. Tessa quickly, reluctantly pulled away from him nervously laughing. She hastily composed herself before speaking.

"Well...err Mr Lee, perhaps I should show you around the base?"

"Yes, we were supposed to do that about 20 minutes ago" he chuckled

Tessa scowled at him still blushing. Lee just laughed.

"You know, you look cute when your blushing and scowling."

Tessa blushed several shades of red at his comment, she also couldn't remain angry at him, her scowl was replaced with a smile. _"How can I remain mad at him when he's so friendly and goodhearted?" _

"Well we'd better start, follow me" she said, walking off down the corridor. Lee followed her and joined her by her side. Tessa led them to an elevator clearly reserved for the Commanding Officers. Tessa pressed the button for the elevator, as they waited she turned to him

"Mr Lee?"

"Hmm?"

"You can call me Tessa."

She heard him chuckle, she turned and found him grinning at her.

"And you can call me Alex if you'd like, Tessa."

She smiled warmly at him and he returned it.

"I'd like that, Alex."


	7. Conversation

_Chapter Seven: Conversation_

For the next few hours Tessa showed Alex around the base and they had gotten to know each other more. Tessa had learned more about Alex as a person, he was a kind, friendly person at heart but because of the event that turned his life around he was made into the complete opposite. He hardly talked to anyone, even his own team mates because he found it hard to trust people, however he was trying to change but it was hard, the Alex she had met was his friendly side and he'd told her it was rare that side appeared, he'd said it was that side she saw because he felt he could trust her. However she'd also seen a small part of his opposite half, briefly but it was enough to scare her and she never wanted to see that side of him again.

After he'd told her he trusted her, he'd changed from been kind and warm, to cold and bitter. He'd warned her not to betray his trust, the last person who did had a very messy death. Tessa had backed away terrified, his eyes had lost their shine and had hardened to a cold dark brown colour and his gaze was piercing and glaring. Alex had softened after seeing her scared face and apologized, quickly changing the subject.

They were near the end of the tour, when Tessa stopped suddenly, Alex turned to look at her. Her face was pale, pale enough he thought she was sick, her eyes were locked on the corridor in front of them they had widened and were full of horror and hurt. Alex was immediately concerned.

"Tessa?"

No response.

"Tessa, you OK?"

Still no response.

Alex looked down the corridor, he saw two men approaching them. One was quite tall with long grey hair tied into a ponytail, he was looking at them with a surprised and concerned look. The other smaller man however didn't look too happy to see them, or at least one of them. He had messy dark brown hair, a tone lighter than his own. His cold steel grey eyes were narrowed slightly and focused ahead of him.

Alex instantly recognised the taller man, grinning he raised his arm in greeting.

"Kalinin, fancy seeing you here" he greeted.

Kalinin's face cracked into a rare smile and started laughing softly.

"Its good to see you too Lee" he replied, stopping in front of them. "Finally decided to join I see" he commented eyeing the Mithril emblem on his shirt.

Alex shrugged nonchalantly "Hey, beats the hell out of dying of thirst and sweating buckets in Afghanistan." he laughed, he held out his hand which Kalinin shook firmly. "Its good to see again old friend."

Kalinin smiled again nodding, he then turned his head towards Tessa and his faced became serious again.

"Is there something wrong Captain?" he asked concerned.

Tessa was pulled out of her trance and looked at him confused, clearly she'd been too wrapped up in her thoughts to hear him.

"I asked if there was something wrong, Captain."

Tessa nervously smiled at him before replying.

"Ah...yes Mr Kalinin I'm fine." She glanced nervously at his companion then went silent.

Alex looked down at her face, seeing her nervous and hurtful expression. He narrowed his eyes at her, he knew there was something wrong and he was determined to find out. He closed his eyes and sighed slowly, appearing to be tired, after a few seconds he opened them again smirking slyly to himself.

"_Interesting" _he thought.

"So, Kalinin who's your friend?" he asked, turning the attention from Tessa.

"Forgive me I forgot to introduce him. This is Sousuke Sagara of the SRT call-sign Urzu 7, Sergeant this Captain Lee, he's the SRT's replacement."

"Sir!" Sousuke snapped a crisp salute.

Alex stared at the young Sergeant in wonder before returning the salute.

"At ease, Sergeant" he replied. Sousuke obeyed and stood still.

"So Lee, where are you escorting the Captain?" asked Kalinin.

"Actually, Captain Testarossa graciously gave up her time to show me around the base." Alex replied. "We were nearly finished when we saw you."

"I see, I could show you around the rest of the base so the Captain can return to her duties" Kalinin offered.

But Tessa quickly interrupted.

"No really its fine Mr Kalinin, I have to talk to Mr Lee afterwards anyway."

Kalinin looked at the young Captain for a second before nodding.

"Very well Captain, now if you can excuse us Sergeant Sagara and myself have matters to attend to."

"Hey Kalinin, remind me to buy you a drink sometime, we got some serious catching up to do."

Kalinin smiled "I keep you to that Lee."

With that he continued walking down the corridor, Sousuke close behind him. When they finally turned the corner Tessa exhaled heavily then slumped against the wall, pulling her knees to her chest and buried her face into them. Alex crouched down beside her.

"Tessa?" he said quietly "You OK?"

She looked up at him, tears were in her eyes and she was on the verge of crying. Alex smiled reassuringly at her, then gently squeezed her hand. Tessa gasped at the contact, she looked down at his hand gently holding hers then back to his face. Seeing him smiling at her brought a smile to her face, her tears quickly vanished.

"Yes I'm fine Alex, Thank you."

His smile widened, he gave another gentle squeeze then rose to his feet, pulling her with him.

"We'd best continue the tour, its almost 2 'O' clock and neither of us have eaten, I don't know about you but I'm starving."

Tessa's stomach seemed to growl in agreement, Alex burst out laughing, she quickly pressed her hand to it, blushing madly.

Somehow Alex managed to contain his laughter and keep a straight face. He turned to Tessa who was still blushing and wore an embarrassed smile.

"Looks like someone agrees with me" he said struggling not to laugh.

Tessa kicked him in the shin, scowling at him. Alex yelped in pain and crouched down holding his leg.

"Bloody Hell Tessa, you kick like a damn horse" he complained, soothing his leg.

Tessa just smiled innocently at him and walked away. Alex muttered something under his breath and followed her.

"So what's left to see anyway?"

"Well we've seen almost the entire base, the only place left is the Commanding Officer's rooms."

"I take it that's where your room is"

Tessa giggled "Well of course, I am a Captain after all" she paused for a moment "And so are you."

Alex looked startled for a second then he asked "So I'm sleeping there too?"

Tessa nodded "Since we're both the same rank, you're classed as a Commanding Officer so you'll get one of the best rooms on the base" she explained "Actually your room is right across the corridor from mine Alex."

"Wow, really?" he asked. Tessa replied with a nod. "That's good, I might get a decent nights sleep for the first time in 2 years." Tessa giggled again.

"Yes, Mr Kalinin told me you had been in Afghanistan for maybe six months, then you joined Mithril but stayed in Afghanistan and have been there since. I also read that you mostly worked alone."

" I didn't trust many people and I found it better to work alone anyway being Special Forces and all, because of that I was dubbed "The Lone Wolf" by the other soldiers and the enemy, actually I really liked it."

"Well you're going to have to work as part of a team now, after all you are the new SRT commander."

"I know, I read everyone's file and it says they work together as an effective group but what I want to know is how well they work together."

"So you're going to test them?" Tessa asked raising an eyebrow. Alex shrugged.

"A little testing never hurt no one" he replied.

"Why did you stay in Afghanistan?" she asked curiously. Alex didn't stop or flinch but the pain was still evident in his eyes.

"Personal reasons." he said and that's all he would say on the subject.

They were silent for a while, just walking down corridors and around corners. The sound of their footsteps echoed of the walls. Tessa broke the silence.

"We're here."

Alex looked where she was, Tessa had opened a door which had her name imprinted on the plaque attached to the door. He remembered what she said and looked at the door across from hers, sure enough his name was imprinted on the plaque attached to the door.

"Come in Alex" Tessa called from her room.

Alex turned from his door and walked through Tessa's. He was not prepared for what he saw.

Before him was the most luxurious room he'd ever seen, it was huge and beautifully decorated with various paintings, some which he recognised, plants and furniture. He could see into the next room which seemed to be a small library with a table in the centre of the room. The living room had two couches facing each other with a leather armchair facing the door leading into the bedroom. Alex could also see that Tessa had her own kitchen.

Tessa sighed and dropped into the armchair rubbing her temples, Alex sat down on the couch, his eyes admiring the room. He heard Tessa chuckle quietly, when he turned to her she was staring at him.

"You weren't kidding when you said it was one of the best rooms"

"I guess you've never seen a room this good have you?" she asked

"I haven't slept in decent bed in two years Tessa, I mean for six months I was sleeping in old Taliban strongholds in Afghanistan, then spent the next year and a half sleeping in cramped bunk. To me, having a room like this would be a real privilege."

Tessa nodded her head understandingly, then started rubbing her shoulder, wincing slightly, Alex noticed this.

"Tessa is something wrong with your shoulder?"

"Its just a little stiff" she responded.

"You've been sitting still for a while then if that's the case."

"Well I have been doing at lot of paperwork in the last few days, I haven't really been out of my office."

Alex got off the sofa and in a flash was standing behind Tessa with his hands on her shoulders.

"What are you-" she began but was cut off when she moaned softly as Alex gently squeezed her shoulders. Alex started gently squeezing her shoulders then began softly rubbing his hands over them and after a while he started squeezing and rubbing her upper arms. Tessa had never felt so relaxed in a very long time, every squeeze and rub seemed to banish the stiffness from her shoulders and arms. She closed her eyes and moaned again under Alex's soft touch, it was so gentle and soothing that she wished he would never stop. Tessa opened her eyes again only to meet Alex's gaze, it was then she realised he had stopped.

"Feel better?" he asked.

Tessa slowly moved her arms around and felt that it was indeed much better, it was no longer sore and it felt more flexible than before. Tessa smiled warmly at him.

"Yes I feel more relaxed, not as stiff and less stressed" she told him. "Can you explain why you did that?"

"You looked like you needed to loosen up a bit and relax, so been the kind person I am I decided to help you." he replied.

Tessa slowly stood up and approached him, she bent down and pecked him lightly on the cheek. Alex went red instantly but smiled broadly, he turned to say something to her but found she was not there. Suddenly he heard the sound of boiling water and clacking of pottery. He stood up and walked round the corner into the kitchen, sure enough there was Tessa boiling some water and getting two teacups out from a cupboard.

"So care to explain what that was?" he asked leaning on the counter.

"It was my way of saying Thank you" she said turning to him, blushing.

Alex was silent for a few seconds before chuckling softly.

"I hope you don't do that to everyone."

Tessa found herself smiling at him and replying "No, I don't."


	8. Meeting the team

_Chapter 8: Meeting the team_

Alex sat in the dark corner of the briefing room with his right leg resting on top of his left his gaze fixed on the door. In the centre of the room in front of the computer screen was Tessa and Kalinin engaged in a conversation about a test of some description. Alex was beginning to get impatient, he hated being kept waiting especially as he had other things to do before the day was out. Just at that moment the door silently slid open and the SRT filed in and took their seats talking amongst each other. Tessa retreated to the seat beside him and sat down crossing her hands on her lap, then Kalinin cleared his throat and the room fell silent.

"As you all know, 3 weeks ago Sergeant Daniels was killed in action and have been waiting for his replacement since. Although you were a only one man short you struggled with your next two missions resulting in several of you wounded and Lieutenant Clouseau critically wounded and taken off active duty for seven months."

Kalinin paused and looked at them all, no visible reaction so he continued.

"Well I have good news for you, we have been able to replace Lieutenant Clouseau with a Special forces Officer." Kalinin looked back at Alex who got up and walked to stand beside him.

"This Captain Lee from Mithril's Special Forces in Afghanistan, he will be your C.O. For the next year."

The SRT whispered loudly between them but was silenced when Kalinin spoke.

"Any words from you Captain?" Alex nodded and walked to the centre of the room.

"As you all probably know, word of your actions have spread throughout Mithril and eventually reached me. I've heard incredible things about the SRT from many people and most of them give you great praise, you can imagine who doesn't."

The group laughed quietly, they could imagine many people who didn't like them. Alex continued talking.

"However those are other peoples opinion's about you not mine, that leaves me waiting to see what you can do and how well you do it."

Now the men and women looked at him in confusion but before they could ask anything he continued.

"Don't take that the wrong way, I was merely implying that I have to see how good your skills actually are in order to form my own opinion." He paused, scanning their faces he could see that looks of confusion had changed to ones of interest. He resumed his speech, a sly grin growing on his face.

"So I propose a test."

Whispers spread through the group, faces filled with surprised interest.

"Sir if I might ask, what sort of test are you proposing." Asked a female officer at the back.

Alex recognised her as Sergeant Major Melissa Mao, the C.O. Of the SRT before he arrived.

"Why what else than a battle royal, only on a larger scale." he replied.

Before Melissa could reply he turned to the laptop resting on top of the table next to him and typed in a few commands then turned back to the group. Suddenly the screen behind him came to life, showing a computerised landscape all of them recognised it as Meridia Island.

"As you can all see this is a computerised landscape of the Island, this will be the test area. You will selected randomly and put into teams of three, the objective is simple: to "kill" the other teams before they kill you. After the last team is standing the test is over and then that team goes against myself in a 3 vs. 1 battle."

"And what do the last team standing get?" Asked a Corporal from the front row.

"The winners of the teams battle will be granted a few days extra leave." Alex replied.

The Corporal grinned "And if we beat you?"

"If by some miracle that you best me, then I will grant the winners with anything as long as its within reason and my power."

The room exploded into conversation things were said along the lines of. "The new C.O. Wants to see us in action, then we'll show him action!" and "He's got no chance at beating us."

It went on like that for several minutes before Alex quietened them.

"Because I'm feeling generous I've decided that you can make yourselves into teams, that will give you a slight advantage, just write down who you wish to be in a team with and hand the paper to me, when you've done that you can even pick where you want to be on the island when the battle begins. If two teams want the same spot I will decide with a simple coin toss, now get moving."

The soldiers sprang to their feet and began organizing themselves into teams and writing information on a slip of paper. Alex noticed three at the back of the room didn't move, they just sat waiting for everyone else to finish so they could continue. This piqued his interest so he strode over to Tessa who had been watching him all the time.

"Who are those three at the back?" he asked curiously.

Tessa glanced behind him towards the three before turning back to him.

"Oh them? They're the highest ranking in the SRT, the one with the long blond hair is Sergeant Kurtz Weber, he's the sniper. The woman next to him with the short purple hair is Sergeant Major Melissa Mao, she's the SRT's acting commander and the messy haired boy beside her is Sergeant Sousuke Sagara."

Though she tried her best to conceal it, the Sergeant's name caught in her throat, this did not go undetected by Alex but he didn't mention it.

Alex was called back to the centre, the papers had been handed in and were awaiting his inspection. He spent two minutes flicking through the papers and when he finished he turned to the group.

"The information is in and now I'm going to put it into the computer."

Alex quickly typed on the computer and while he did coloured zones appeared on the tactical map when he finished he stepped back and continued.

"As you can see, I've done everything fairly and these are the results. Red, Yellow and Gold teams are in positions on the west part of the islands near or in the forest, I will not the name the member of the teams as that would be too easy for you. Blue, Green and Orange teams are on the east side of the island positioned on the higher ground and finally Purple team are located on the beach along the north coast."

Alex looked at them all and studied them, some faces had smug looks as they had been put where they wanted and some with disappointment. He noticed then that the blond Sergeant, who he now realised was the Sergeant who showed him to Tessa's office had his hand raised.

"Yes Sergeant?"

"Sir I was just wondering, where are you positioned?"

Alex grinned slyly and tapped the side of his nose.

"Now that would be telling Sergeant."

He turned back to the group and addressed them.

"Alright, you all have 2 hours to make yourselves ready, you are free to use any weapons you want as well as equipment and I wish you all the best of luck. Dismissed!"

The soldiers filed out of the room almost tripping over themselves in order to secure the best items soon it was just Alex, Tessa and Kalinin left.

"That was good speech Captain but can I ask why you are proceeding with this test?" asked Kalinin.

"Simple, I need to find out their abilities in combat, how effective they work as as teams and how good their skill is." Alex replied.

"It's unusual for someone to use a test to find the find the fighting ability of the men when they are against each other."

"They need to learn that sometimes their friends who one day fighting with them and the next they are fighting against them, I suffered that in Afghanistan with people I thought I could trust and every time I gunned them down without hesitation the moment they revealed who they were."

Kalinin nodded his head in understanding, he glanced down at his watch and gave a small humph, then turned to Tessa who had sat quietly during his discussion.

Forgive me Captain I must be going, I have a meeting with some men from Intelligence."

Tessa nodded but didn't speak, Alex nodded to Kalinin who returned it before making his way out the door.

As soon as Kalinin left Alex whirled around and fixed Tessa with his gaze.

"Is that Sagara causing you trouble Tessa?"

Tessa shifted uncomfortably under his gaze and tried to resist meeting his brown pits but eventually she succumbed.

"Not really its just that...that." Her voice faded and tears began running down her face before falling onto the floor below. Tessa spoke again, her voice filled with emotion.

"I confessed that I loved him but he rejected my feelings and after all we went through!"

Her crying turned into sobbing, she hid her face in her hands, her voice became hoarse.

Alex stood there not knowing what to do, he felt that he should comfort the silver haired girl before him but on the other hand sometimes it was better just to give people some space. After a small inner conflict he approached Tessa and gently took hold of her hands pulling them away from her tear stained face.

Tessa looked up from the floor when she felt her hands being pulled away from her wet face and into Alex's now soft brown eyes. Suddenly she felt his fingers brush the soft skin of her cheek and then his hand caressing it, brushing away the tears in her eyes. He smiled softly.

"Its okay Tessa its okay." he said, now using a tissue to wipe away the mascara stains on her face. "He wasn't meant for you Tessa that's how it goes but you will find someone one day, I know it."

Tessa continued staring into his eyes, they were filled with sympathy and understanding. She found that comforting.

"Your sure?" she asked wiping her eyes with the tissue.

Alex gave her a reassuring smile.

"I'm sure, hell it might even be me!" he said laughing.

Tessa laughed too. But deep down she wished that it was true.


	9. The Test

_Chapter 9: The Test_

Alex stood alone in the locker room, he was making the final adjustments on his pilot suit before he made his way to the "Battlefield." He had left Tessa an hour ago to get changed and for her to make the final arrangements.

Alex thought about what had occurred in the briefing room earlier, how he'd been able to comfort Tessa when she told him of her confession to Sagara. Strangely when he thought about her been comforted it made him feel at ease as well, however he couldn't think of a reason of why he felt like that. He ran through the events in his mind several times but to no avail, but his thoughts drifted to when he brought a smile to Tessa's face to which also brought a smile to his.

His thoughts were interrupted by an announcement. "The combat test shall begin in 5 minutes, all participants are to report immediately to the battleground."

Alex finished fastening his boots and exited the locker room, he immediately headed towards the hanger as he needed to run a diagnostic on his AS to make sure it was ready. As he walked down the corridors he was greeted by many of the Tuatha De Danaan's crew on their way to the view boxes dotted around the island but out of range of the AS battleground, most of them said good luck, some just greeted him a simple "Sir." But all of them gave him looks of pure astonishment and he could guess why.

Alex's AS pilot suit wasn't standard issue it was custom designed. On his left wrist was a small keypad built into the suit, on his right was a bracer of some sort, his helmet seemed to roughly resemble a wolfs head and on his chest was a carved picture of a wolf with silver fur howling at a blood red moon.

When he entered the hanger he smiled broadly at the AS standing against the far wall, he strode across the hanger towards the small group of technicians gathered around its feet, gaping at it in amazement.

"Alright that's enough gawking" Alex said loudly, his voice echoing off the walls.

The technicians hastily moved away from the AS towards their stations, one of them ran up to him.

"Everything's ready Sir" she said, handing him a small data pad. "The weapons you requested are attached to the AS with full ammunition."

Alex ran his eyes quickly over the data pad before handing it back.

"Thank you Corporal, better get yourself to a view screen, you don't want to miss this."

The young Corporal nodded and flashed him a quick smile before running towards the door. Alex turned back to the AS and gracefully leapt up its leg, grabbed hold of its arm and pulled himself up next to the cockpit, then carefully lowered himself into it and sat into his seat. He quickly brought the AS online and checked its systems once again, satisfied he closed the cockpit and set his hands to the controls. Suddenly a pleasant, cheery female voice echoed through his speakers.

"Hello Captain, its a pleasure to see you again."

"Its nice to see you too Serina" he replied.

"So what is it we are doing today?" the A.I. asked.

Alex smiled slyly as he shifted the controls.

"Wait and see."

Tessa glanced again at the clock above the window, it read 1:59pm. Less than a minute before Alex's "Test" began. She was in a viewing room which showed the entire battlefield through a huge glass window. Mardukas, Kalinin and a few other senior officers were with her, waiting anxiously for the test to begin.

Tessa was rather anxious herself, the SRT was the best that Mithril had and Alex had challenged them all to a test of combat. To many others he seemed crazy to even think of the idea never mind carrying it out but she thought differently, she believed that Alex had a very good chance of winning because he was such a skilled pilot and he was an excellent strategist according to the report sent to her.

Tessa was suddenly shaken from her thoughts with the sound of Mardukas's voice.

"Madam Captain, it is time" he said in his usual monotone.

Tessa nodded.

"Please begin Mr. Mardukas."

Mardukas held down a button on the control panel in front of them and bent down to the microphone.

"The Combat Test begins...NOW!"

Everything suddenly came to life, AS's that had previously been hidden came out of nowhere and began dashing in every direction. In a matter of seconds the first shots were fired which resulted in 2 AS's instantly taken out of action.

As the battle raged on Tessa noticed a slight distortion on the hill where she and Melissa had fought a few months before. Suddenly she saw a small flash of yellow come from the distortion causing her to blink in surprise, when she opened her eyes, both the yellow flash and the distortion had disappeared.

"The Combat Test begins...NOW!"

From her vantage point on the cliff, Melissa saw all the other squads burst into action and began running in every direction, seconds after the battle started the first few rounds were fired by Blue Team which disabled 2 of Red Team's AS's and soon after the third followed suit.

As the squads engaged in combat Melissa stood cloaked on the cliff watching the action. It was her strategy to wait until a few of the other squads were eliminated then engage the others with her squad consisting of Kurtz and Sousuke.

"Alright Kurtz, Sousuke, Red Team's been eliminated and Yellow and Gold's engaged each other, Green and Orange have left the high ground and are trying to flank Yellow and Gold." She said.

"Then that leaves Blue on the high ground with their back's exposed." Sousuke replied in his usual military tone.

"Tryin' the sniping tactic huh?" Kurtz said "How about we leave that to the expert, eh sis?"

"Don't get too cocky Kurtz they might have someone guarding their ass, Sousuke go see if you find a way to flank them without been seen."

"Rodger."

Melissa watched as Sousuke, in Arbalest carefully move around a ledge behind Blue Team's position. About 20 seconds later he returned.

"Two of them are firing bursts down at the other teams and the third is using a sniper rifle."

Melissa grinned "Alright, move around behind them and engage."

"Alright! That's what I'm talking about!" cheered Kurtz.

"Rodger" said Sousuke.

Carefully they made their way around the ledge and positioned themselves behind Blue Team. Melissa held up 3 fingers and slowly counted down.

"Alright hit 'em!" she shouted, as her AS jumped on top of the cliff, guns blazing, Kurtz and Sousuke followed right behind her.

Blue Team was caught by surprise and had no time to turn around and return fire, in a matter of seconds they were wiped out.

"Kurtz, set up a sniping position" Melissa ordered.

"Way ahead of you babe" he replied, lying down on the hill using his rifle to scan the area. After a few seconds he spoke again.

"Yellow Team has lost a guy but Green has only 1 left and Gold and Orange are just taking pot shots at each other so its a stalemate."

Melissa thought for a moment, trying to decide the best course of action, finally she reached her decision.

"Alright, Sousuke you and me will sneak up behind the other teams through the forest, Kurtz you stay here and cover us as we go in. Oh and if any of the others try to escape their all yours."

Kurtz just nodded and focused on the forest in front of him, searching for a target.

Melissa and Sousuke quietly made their way down the slope and into the thick trees, as they neared the battle their movements became more cautious and they became more aware. Before long they saw the remaining teams engaged in a massive fire fight, as Kurtz had said Yellow Team was reduced to 2, Gold and Orange were at full strength still, the last guy on Green Team had been eliminated moments before they arrived.

Melissa surveyed the situation, Orange and Gold were locked in their own private war and Yellow was slowly sneaking up behind them.

"Sousuke, we're taking on Yellow first, take the guy on the right...quietly" she ordered.

Sousuke nodded and reached down for his training blade, he drew it slowly and quietly then moved silently through the trees towards Yellow Team, Melissa followed suit. Both were unaware of the dim yellow light which followed their every move.

Yellow Team stopped just behind Orange Team, waiting for the moment to strike. Suddenly both of the remaining AS's were grabbed from behind and "stabbed" in their necks "killing" them instantly.

Melissa and Sousuke stepped over them and sheathed their blades, scanning the area with every movement. Melissa contacted Kurtz.

"Kurtz, Yellow Team is down and were ready to deal with Orange and Gold" she said.

"Make sure you save some of them for me babe, getting lonely up here" he replied.

"Snap out of it Weber before I put my boot up your ass" Melissa said coldly.

"Gotcha babe." The connection went dead.

Melissa growled quietly and returned her attention to the remaining teams. She knew taking on six AS's with just two was suicidal so she decided to use the element of surprise to her advantage, hopefully when she hit Orange Team who was closest to her, Gold Team would be for a few seconds stunned giving Sousuke the time he needed to take them down.

"Sousuke, here's what I need you to do." she said, going over her plan with him carefully.

"Think you can do it?" she asked, once she finished.

Sousuke nodded.

"Just give me an opening and it will be done" he answered.

"Alright, remember as soon as I open fire you do the same."

Sousuke disappeared into the dense forest carefully working his way behind Gold Team to flank them. Melissa positioned herself behind Orange Team, waiting for Sousuke to get into position. Seconds later she saw him behind Gold Team's position giving her the OK signal, she returned it and breathed deeply before jumping from her hiding place and opening fire on Orange Team.

Within seconds Orange Team was annihilated, and Sousuke had taken down two of Gold Team but the third was nowhere to be seen.

"Kurtz, we've taken down Orange and Gold but we're missing one guy, can you..."

Melissa didn't finish her sentence for at that moment a high velocity sound shattered the silence and interrupted her.

"There's your answer babe."

Melissa and Sousuke moved out of the forest towards the sound, when they emerged they found Kurtz standing next the downed AS.

"Nice job Kurtz, he was almost the one that got away" said Melissa.

"I aim to please" he replied.

Suddenly the COM came to life, it was Kalinin.

"Good work Mao, you and your team has performed well so far."

"And we will continue to, sir."

"We'll see, right now Captain Lee is waiting for you to start the next section of the test."

"Hell yeah we're ready!" interrupted Kurtz.

"Well then good luck to you." Kalinin muttered softly and only Melissa managed to hear him "Your going to need it."

This caused her to be more alert than usual, while the other's took the new Captain as a joke she took him seriously, especially if Kalinin had just said they'd need all the luck they can get.

"Kurtz I need you to lay low in the forest, you'll have a better view of the area and you'll have cover."

"Gotcha." Kurtz said as he moved to set up his position.

"Sousuke, follow me"

"Rodger."

Melissa moved to the hill where she and Tessa had their battle some months before, if anything moved on the island she'd be able to see it no problem.

"Kurtz we're set up on the hill overlooking the entire island, we see something we'll let you know."

"Alright, you just point and I'll..."

Suddenly Kurtz's COM went dead, Melissa tried contacting him but it was no use.

"Dammit, the bastard must have been in the forest to begin with, Kurtz would of seen him coming otherwise." She said coldly.

"I recommend we split up but not far apart and search for him" Sousuke said "That way if one of us is attacked, the other can quickly respond and deal with him before he can escape."

"Agreed, but take it slow, we don't know what he's capable of."

Both of them made their way silently down the hill and into the forest, once in they separated and swept the area looking for the hidden attacker.

A long time passed with no results, eventually Melissa spoke.

"Sousuke, its clear he must have moved on there's no sign of..."

Suddenly gunfire shattered the silence, it lasted for a few seconds and then it stopped.

"Mao, are you there? Come in Mao!" said Sousuke anxiously.

Having no reply he moved to Melissa's last know position, there he found her and his enemy.

The AS standing before him was not an M9 it was an AS he had never seen before. It was a dark metallic grey colour its chest had a few ammo pouches attached to it as well as a Training blade but what stood out the most was the etching on it's chest, it was a silver wolf which was howling at a blood red moon, it's head was about the same size of an M9 but it had an overhang which cast a shadow over the the visor which was a dull yellow colour. Attached to it's back was an assault rifle with a scope attachment, attached to its legs were two pistols in holsters.

The AS had Melissa held tight to its chest, the training blade held to her throat.

Sousuke levelled his weapon at it but didn't shoot, he didn't want to risk hitting Mao until he had a clear shot.

Suddenly he heard Mao speak.

"Sousuke listen carefully, I'm going to jerk to my right, that should give you enough time to get a clear shot, understand?"

"Rodger."

"Then do it NOW!

Melissa's AS jerked sharply to it's right leaving Sousuke with a clear shot at the other AS. Sousuke fired straight at his enemy, time slowed as the bullet neared its target then it struck, but not it's target. Melissa's AS fell to the ground, paint covering it's visor.

Sousuke looked in disbelief, no one had ever been able to avoid that shot which he had taken so many times before. He was snapped out of his trance by the sound of a blade been drawn, he faced his opponent who stood in a battle stance with his blade held offhand. Sousuke drew his own blade and placed himself in a battle stance then the two circled each other, waiting for the moment to strike. Sousuke was the first to attack coming in low aiming for his opponent's abdomen however his blade slashed thin air where his target should have been. He glanced to his right and spotted Lee again, he attacked without hesitation and again he sliced through mid air.

It continued like this for a few minutes but Sousuke began to falter, his movement became slower. In a last desperate attempt he lunged forward aiming for his opponent's chest...and missed. Sousuke quickly looked to his left and right but could not find his target. Suddenly an alarm sounded indicating that an enemy AS was behind him, and he knew then he was done. Lee's AS grabbed Arbalest by the throat and choke slammed it into the ground, then as a finisher he grabbed Arbalest by the chest and raised it up, then Lee whipped his head back and head butted Sousuke in the face, causing him to blackout.

Lee stood up and surveyed the area, Kurtz, Sousuke and Melissa was down, whether they were trapped in their AS's or unconscious didn't really matter but one one thing was clear. The Test was over and Lee had won.

_**I feel the need to apologize about taking so long to publish this chapter as many things got in the way which didn't give me much time to write, so I ask you forgiveness in this matter but at least it is up now I hope you enjoy it.**_

_**VentedHalo**_


	10. Memories

_Chapter 10: Memories_

Tessa sat alone on the cliff, her gaze fixed on the sparkling blue ocean before her, the light evening breeze blew gently through her hair and the smell of the sea was carried with it. She was thinking about the previous three days after Alex's fight with Melissa, Sousuke and Kurtz. Everyone who had been watching was shocked at his skill as an AS pilot, even Mardukas was impressed, she had been told he was a brilliant soldier but she had had doubts about him taking on the SRT but they faded quickly when he defeated them in less than 3 minutes.

She could tell he wasn't pleased with the result of his "Little Test" as he put it, he believed that Melissa and her team mates could have performed better and be more serious and because of these flaws they had lost. She remembered his first words when he stepped out of his AS and walked past her to get changed.

"They're getting re-trained."

Since then he had put them through the toughest training exercises anyone had ever seen from dawn till dusk with little time for rest but Tessa could already see the results of these exercises. The three of them had developed a bit more discipline and their combat abilities had increased dramatically most noticeable their reaction times, Alex however had no intention of stopping though and was still at that moment training them.

Tessa's thoughts then turned to Alex himself, he was one of the most deadliest soldier's she had ever met, he seemed the type to break your arm for just giving him the wrong look.

"But that's when he's serious" she thought "When I first met him and throughout today he's been very kind and gentle towards me."

Tessa let her mind wander back to when he held her in his arm's, although he'd just did it to stop her from falling she still enjoyed the feeling of safety. But she was still troubled by his personality, everyone claimed he was a cold, merciless, natural born killer but she saw him as a kind and gentle person although he was still a killer. Her thoughts were interrupted sharply by a familiar voice.

"Do you want some company?"

Looking over her shoulder she saw Alex standing there with his hands behind his back, staring at her with his dark brown eyes. Tessa shivered, she always did that when she looked into them. She smiled at him and simply nodded, he sat down silently beside her and gazed out to the sea. They sat there for a while in each others company, they didn't talk or make a sound besides their light breathing.

"I like it here" Alex said quietly.

"Why is that?" Tessa asked.

"It makes me feel relaxed and at ease, its also very calm and... well beautiful I suppose."

Tessa nodded.

"I feel the same way, I come here when I can to gather my thoughts and put my mind at rest, to get away from the orders, the paperwork. All of it."

"That's not what I saw when I arrived, you seemed to be doing a lot of thinking over something."

Tessa was again amazed by his ability to read her emotions and body language.

"It was just some...things I needed to think about that's why I'm here" she said hurriedly.

Alex nodded in understanding. Tessa decided to change the subject.

"I thought you were still training Melissa and the others?"

Alex snorted and shook his head in annoyance.

"I was but they kept failing to complete the test in the time limit I set, so I sent them away because I got sick yelling at them and no doubt they were aching to get away from me."

Tessa looked carefully at Alex's face, she didn't need to as the dark rings under his eyes were quite evident.

"Maybe you should take a rest or maybe a weekend vacation?" she suggested.

"No, Ill be fine" said Lee, shaking head "I deal with this on a daily basis, so I'm used to the exhaustion and the lack of sleep and besides, where would I go if I did go on leave?"

Tessa mentally slapped herself.

"_Of course! He doesn't have any family to visit or something, Kalinin told me!"_

"Sorry, I forgot you didn't have anyone" she said, guiltily.

"I don't remember saying anything about that" Lee said, confused.

"Kalinin told me, when we talking about you when we were choosing a replacement SRT commander."

The corners of Alex's mouth twitched upwards in a smile, and his eyes looked they were looking far into the horizon, like remembering a distant memory.

"Ah yes, was that when I saved him from certain death from those Taliban soldiers?" he asked, like he already knew the answer.

"Yeah, although he didn't quite put it that way" she replied, smiling.

Alex rolled his eyes "Typical Kalinin."

They burst into to laughter, and exchanged other stories between them regarding the Russian commander.

"I remember not to long back when we had a break like this and I was searching for...a possession of mine that I'd lost and went to ask Kalinin if he knew where it was, he invited me into his quarters as he was just preparing his dinner."

"Wouldn't of happened to have been borscht would it?" Alex interrupted. Tessa giggled.

"Familiar with it?"

Alex grimaced sending Tessa into another fit of laughter.

"Taste the borscht from hell and you will NEVER forget" he muttered. Tessa eventually calmed down and another lapse silence passed between the two.

Suddenly Tessa heard a snap, turning she saw Alex stripping his M9 side arm and laying the pieces out on the grass, he then took a small rectangular box out of his pocket and opened it revealing several cleaning brushes and some oil. Alex then set to work cleaning all the various pieces of the weapon, as he worked Tessa couldn't help but be in a little awe at how expertly he did it with such concentration and speed.

Tessa imagined herself trying to replicate his actions and couldn't help herself from chuckling at the thought of her clumsiness, she turned find Alex staring at her, bemused.

"I was just imagining myself trying to do something like that" she said gesturing him cleaning his weapon "Without messing up 99.9% of the time."

Alex smiled "If you want I could show you."

Tessa looked uncertainly at the now fully assembled pistol lying next to him on the grass.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

Alex nodded.

"I can teach you that and a few other things about firearms if you want, I'd be happy to actually."

Tessa continued looking at the M9 for a few moments then nodded her head, smiling.

"Okay, you've convinced me, what's first?"

Alex's face broke into a huge grin, he picked up his weapon and jumped to his feet, Tessa knew that he was in his 'Zone'.

"Alright first things first, have you had ANY firearms training? At all?"

"No, not much I can barely hold a pistol right" Tessa said a little embarrassed.

"Not to worry, I'll sort that out."

Alex looked about them and strode over to nearest tree, flicking out a combat knife from his boot he began scratching at the bark. Tessa sat bewildered there for a moment watching him work, a few seconds later he put the knife away and stood back to admire his handiwork.

Tessa got up and stood next to him when he gestured for her to come to him and looked at what he had done, carved into the bark of the tree were numerous circles, each getting larger as they went outward from a center dot, she looked questionably at Alex and found him loading a few dud rounds into the clip of his M9, it struck her then that he had just set up a primitive firing range.

"Here, take this" said Alex holding out the pistol to her, grip first.

Tessa took it nervously and weighed it in her hands. It was surprisingly light and seemed to fit rather snug in her palm, she turned and faced the "target" and waited.

"There are many things to know about firearms but Ill teach you the basics for now. The first thing you need to do is form a stable stance, so place you left foot forward a bit, then twist your body so you left shoulder is in line with the target."

Tessa obeyed.

"Second, you see the slide on the top of the gun? Pull that back until you hear the round been loaded into the chamber."

Tessa gripped the slide and pulled back slowly until she heard a click. Alex nodded again.

"Now, the gun is loaded and is nearly ready to fire, to make it so the gun is able to fire you have to switch the safety catch off, see that little switch just above the trigger? Turn it until it faces down and won't move any further.

Tessa did as he told, hearing a little snap when she completed the action.

"Right, now that the gun is ready, we can begin shooting, try and get a shot as close to the center as possible."

Tessa raised the pistol so she could see clearly down the sights, taking careful aim she lined up the target and quickly pulled back on the trigger and felt the weapon kick back as the bullet was ejected. Lowering the weapon she could see and dark, round hole about 4 inches from the center. She heard Alex speak from behind her.

"Nice shot! But you were a little hasty on the trigger there and your hands weren't exactly in the correct position."

Tessa bowed her head slightly and felt her cheeks warm, Alex put his hand on her shoulder.

"Don't be sad it's a good learning experience, here let me show you" said Alex.

Alex stood behind her and softly placed his hands over hers and lifted her arms so they pointed the pistol at the target, Tessa's cheeks turned pink.

"What you want to do is hold the gun firm in you right hand then place your index finger on the trigger guard, then you want to place your left hand beneath where the clip is located, this will reduce the recoil and will steady your hand giving you a better shot."

Tessa did as Alex asked and found that the gun felt more comfortable in her hand and firmer.

"Can you feel the difference from before?"

"Yes, it feels a lot firmer and comfortable."

"Good, very good."

Alex let go of her and stepped backwards to allow her some room.

"When your ready, squeeze the trigger Tessa."

Tessa looked back at him uncertainly, Alex gave her an encouraging nod and a small smile. Tessa turned back to the target and took careful aim, she shakily put her finger on the trigger and slowly began to squeeze. Time seemed to slow down for Tessa, she could hear nothing but her heart beating rapidly inside her chest. Suddenly the silence shattered with an echoing shot. Tessa lowered the gun and looked at the target, at first she could see nothing but then she saw a bullet hole where the bullseye should have been.

"Nice shot, let's see if you can do that again."

Tessa obliged him and took aim at the target again and fired, this time the shot hit right next to the bullseye.

"Again" said Alex.

Tessa shot again, the bullet hit just underneath the her last shot. Alex told her to fire again and again until the magazine was empty, the target had a solid grouping of bullet holes surrounding the bullseye.

Alex stepped forward and began clapping.

"A brilliant performance Tessa, well done!"

Tessa felt herself blushing. "I couldn't have done it without your help, thank you."

"No problem, you actually seem to shoot better than the SRT from what they've shown me."

They broke into laughter together and remained like that for several minutes until they forced themselves to stop and breath. Alex recovered first and turned to face her.

"Seriously though Tessa I'm impressed by what you did and I'm not impressed easily, friend or no."

Tessa looked him in the eyes and saw how serious they were. Before she could say anything Alex spoke again.

"So if you'd like I want to teach you to use other weapons like rifles and automatics."

Tessa looked away from him and sat deep in thought, she hadn't had much firearms training as she thought she wouldn't need it, the incident on the De Danann a few months back had changed her view on it.

She hesitated though on Alex's offer, she was extremely clumsy and that could prove a hazard to herself and Alex if she messed up but she thought about how she felt around Alex, she felt confident and happy to be able to talk to someone as a friend, not a colleague or someone under her command, she felt...normal. When she thought about the amount of time they would spend together she couldn't help but smile. She realised that Alex was snapping his fingers and waving his hand in front of her face.

"Sorry I was just thinking, what did you say?" she asked.

"I asked if you wanted to learn more about firearms" he said, shrugging "If you don't want to I'm not going to force you."

Tessa looked at him, he stood there looking at her, waiting for her answer. In the short time she had known him he had always been kind, gentle and supportive, if he asked her something he would always check to see if she wanted to change her mind, he didn't rush her with things and he always seemed to find a way to make her laugh.

Tessa knew then that Alex was more than just a friend to her, she knew he had been scarred deep by the loss of everything he knew but she felt that she could help him heal, to make the scars disappear and help him live life again, a normal life, not that of soldier. Tessa smiled and looked at him.

"Yes, I'd love it if you could teach me some more things, then who knows, after sometime I could be so good that I could beat the SRT."

Alex laughed "You never know, you might just yet."

Tessa joined in with his laughter, during which they both unknowingly closed the distance between them.

"You know when you gave me that massage a few days ago?" she said.

Alex nodded, "Yes, I remember."

"Well you know when you finished and I thanked you with a kiss?"

Alex reddened slightly and grinned "Yes, I remember that quite well."

"Well here is another one."

Tessa leaned in a was just about to peck Alex on the cheek, when he turned and their lips brushed and pressed against each other locking them in a deep kiss. Tessa's mind was immediately racing.

"_Oh My God! He's kissing me! H-how did this happen?" _

They quickly broke apart neither understanding what had just occurred, although the kiss had lasted for but a few seconds it had felt much longer for both of them. An uneasy silence lay between them as they stared at each other in bewilderment, trying to figure out how it could have happened. Tessa looked away and sat stiffly in silence, but inside she was bursting with questions and emotions.

"_How did we end up kissing? I just leant in to peck him, then the next thing I know we're locked to each other in a deep kiss?"_

Tessa glanced nervously over at Alex, he was sat like a rock, his eyes were wide, distant and unblinking like a owl's , he also looked...hurt. There was a deep sadness in his eyes that betrayed the pain inside of him, he looked...lost. Tessa licked her dry lips and swallowed.

"A-Alex?" she whispered, her voice shaking.

She could see her speech made an effect as he blinked and the distant stare vanished from his eyes, however the warmth from them also disappeared from his eyes, leaving them cold and filled with pain at what she guessed must have been a distant memory. Alex slowly turned his head and fixed her with his cold glare, and when he spoke his voice cut through her like ice.

"Why? Why did you do it?" he hissed.

"I-It was an accident!" she whispered, his voice hurt her and tears formed in her eyes.

"LIAR!" he thundered, his voice thick with venom. Tessa flinched and backed away from him, cowering against the tree they had used as a target earlier. She could no longer hold back the tears which ran down her face turning black from her eyeliner and mascara. At that moment she felt a few drops of rain land on her, as well as hear the thunder which rolled overhead. Alex towered over her and pointed at her with an accusing finger.

"Something, like that doesn't happen by accident!" he hissed.

"A-Alex, p-please stop!, your scaring me! And I swear it was an accident!" Tessa begged.

"LIES!" he roared, lightning crashed, illuminating the sky behind Alex, giving him an even more terrorizing appearance. Tessa whimpered and huddled closer against the tree. Desperate to get away from the monster that had consumed Alex. The rain turned into a monsoon and in seconds the ground and the both of them were sodden. Alex's eyes softened slightly and Tessa could have sworn she saw a single tear roll down his cheek, he slowly shook his head and turned away from her and walked in the direction of the base entrance, as he disappeared from sight she could hear him say "All a lie."

Tessa pulled her legs to her chest and rested her head on them, weeping.

"What have I done" she sobbed.


End file.
